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Monday, January 2, 2012

I am Huge with Israel is the Land of the Jews

Some might wonder the reasoning of a Christian Right Winger
is so committed to the existence of Israel and Jews that internally and
globally support the existence of a Jewish State. Then again as part of the
Christian Right you might not wonder. In this day and age every Christian (authentic, Progressive or Emerging/Emergent) needs to search
their conscience and contemplate their reasons for supporting or hating on
Israel.

I am obviously a part of the Christian Right that wears
the moniker of a Christian Zionist. Zionists lobbied heavily for the
creation of a Jewish State and ultimately for that State to be in the homeland
of the heritage that God provided to Jews (Hebrews) as a Promised Land. The
British plugged into the Zionist movement during WWI in battling their enemies
of Germany, Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). In the case of the
Jews that enemy that mattered was the Ottoman Empire which still held a
multinational empire in the Middle East. Victory over the Ottoman’s meant that
Europe controlled Middle Eastern land as victors in war. Essentially the
British and the French took slices of the Middle East with the League of
Nations validating that control under the idealism that a Mandatory System
would give Middle Eastern people their own nation. Primarily the Middle Eastern
people had not known personal sovereignty for centuries due to Ottoman rule.
Indeed Middle Eastern Arabs rose up in revolt against the Ottomans under the
dream of freedom and sovereignty.

Many Arabs became understandably nationalistic and
dreamed of a Pan-Arab nation. Unfortunately for the Pan-Arabists the Brits and
the French had no intention of allowing one huge Arab nation to exist in the
Middle East. Hence the Mandatory system was utilized to play on the tribalistic
thinking of Muslim Arabs and offered kingdoms to Sheiks; i.e. essentially to the
Muslim families that were the most supportive of the British Army fighting the
Ottomans in the Middle East. (It was
mostly a British effort in the Middle East during WWI even though the French
was given a Mandatory as well.)
By playing on the greed for power Britain and France easily carved up the
Middle East.

The British Mandate for Palestine’s original intention
was for a Jewish State. The British bean to rethink their National Interest
position when somebody realized that the Arabs – being good Muslims – were extremely
hostile to a largely immigrant Jewish crowd that with the promise of leaving
European persecution. So the British tried to slow down the Jewish promise for
a return to their homeland to accommodate nationalistic Pan-Arabism.

Well that is the end of my incomplete thoughts on how
modern Israel began to emerge.

The point is that Zionism prevailed and Israel came into
existence. The irony of the 1948 survival to claim the independence of modern
Israel is that a significant amount of Zionist Jews were Left leaning and not
necessarily totally observant Jews. The one commonality between Israel’s Left
and Right (with the Right largely being religious Jews) was to survive as a
nation to avoid the extermination that Hitler’s Nazi Germany attempted to perpetuate
on Jews that resulted in nearly SIX MILLION Jewish deaths.

Now let’s be clear that Israel is a Jewish State that
also has Christians, Muslims and various Islamic offshoots such as the Druze
syncretic religious population. Christians, Muslims and Muslim offshoots are
completely free to practice their faith openly without threat of state
sanctioned persecution. The drawback is that proselytization is not allowed in
Israel.

For a Christian Right person such as me, evangelism is a
preeminent part of being a Christian. So question is: Why are there
evangelicals that are so supportive of the Jewish State of Israel? The answer
is related to the term Christian Zionism.

Let’s look at some
thoughts on Christian Zionism

Here is a Jewish perspective from the Jewish Virtual Library:

Christian Zionism can be defined as
Christian support for the Zionist cause — the return of the
Jewish people to its biblical homeland in Israel. It is a belief among some
Christians that the return of Jews to Israel is in line with a biblical
prophecy, and is necessary for Jesus to return to Earth as its
king. These Christians are partly motivated by the writings of the Bible and the words of the
prophets. However, they are also driven to support Israel because they wish to
“repay the debt of gratitude to the Jewish people for providing Christ and the
other fundamentals of their faith,” and to support a political ally, according
to David Brog, author Standing With
Israel: Why Christians Support the Jewish State.

…

Despite their support for Israel,
many Jews however, are uncomfortable with Christian Zionists. This discomfort
is fed by Christian anti-Semitism, Christian
replacement theology, evangelical proselytizing, and disagreements over
domestic and political issues.

Dispensationalist Christianity, an
interpretive or narrative framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible, teaches that Christianity
did not replace Judaism, but that it restored lost
elements of it. The dispensationalist view of the Bible is that the Old Testament is foreshadowing for
what will occur in the New Testament and, at the end,Jesus returns to reign on Earth
after an epic battle between good and evil. Israel plays a central role in the
dispensationalist view of the end of the world. The establishment of Israel in 1948 was
seen as a milestone to many dispensationalists on the path toward Jesus’
return. In their minds, now that the Jews again had regained their homeland,
all Jews were able to return to Israel, just as had been prophesied in the
Bible. As described in the Book of Revelation, there is an
epic battle that will take place in Israel after it is reestablished — Armaggedon — in which it is
prophesied that good will finally triumph over evil. However, in the process,
two-thirds of the Jews in Israel die and the other third are converted to
Christianity. Jesus then returns to Earth to rule for 1,000 years as king.

Although these Christians do hope
for a Messianic age, the majority of them do not wish for the deaths of
thousands of Jews during Armageddon. Dispensationalist Christians believe that
the Jewish people, not Christians, are the ones who were promised Israel in the
Bible. In their view, Christianity
did not come into existence to replace Judaism, but to restore it. This
view has surpassed replacement theology as the dominant form of Christian
thought regarding Israel in America today. Jews who are suspicious of Christian
Zionist motives are usually unaware
that many Christian supporters of Israel have abandoned replacement theology.

Aside from anti-Semitism and
Christian replacement theology, many Jews are wary of the fact that many
evangelical Christians simply want to convert them to Christianity or speed up
the Second Coming of Christ …

…

Christian Zionists say Jews have no
reason to distrust their motives for supporting Israel because they do not
believe they can speed up the Second Coming of Christ. In the Gospel of Matthew, it is written
that Jesus said about his return, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

…

Christian Zionists are also more
conservative on Israel than many Jews. They favor Israel maintaining all of its
settlements in the West Bank, and were opposed to the
Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Some prominent
Christian Zionists have been highly critical of Israeli government policy of
giving over parts of Israel to the Palestinian people. Christian Zionists, like
followers of the Israeli Right, believe that Israel should never cede any
section of Israel to the Palestinians because Israel was given to the Jews by
God. … (Read the entire JVL article)

It is important to understand that not all Jews are on
board with Christian Zionism. The organized Christian Church has a long history
of persecution against Jews. Jews are proud of their heritage whether Liberal
or religious, have nearly no interest in listening to a proselytizing message
from a Christian.

Part Two: Christian Zionism

In the previous segment we looked
at the question "What is Zionism?" and simply defined it as the
biblical promises and prophecies made by God to the Jewish patriarchs that
their descendants would occupy the Promised Land, what the world today calls
Palestine, forever. Today we are going to look at the question:

"What is Christian Zionism?"

You may never have heard of it before. Christian Zionism is a movement
resulting from the Bible, mainly among Gentile Christians who share this
interpretation and this vision of God being faithful to all His covenants;
including the covenant He made with Abraham so long ago. We have been convinced
by God to support this modern return, this latest and final return of the
Jewish people to the Promised Land; by our prayers and fervent intercession and
with our finances, actions and energies. (From webpage – Christian Zionism)

The above quote is from a very informative website.

I have got to post this article on Christian Zionism
Defined by the International Christian
Embassy Jerusalem which is re-posted at ZionismOnTheWeb.org.This is a succinct explanation of Christian
Zionism:

Tens of thousands of churches, and
literally tens of millions Christians in the USA have a committed belief in the
importance of standing with Israel and blessing the Jewish people. The verse
most often referred to as their biblical mandate is Genesis 12:3 in which God
tells Abraham “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who
curse you and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Since the birth of the State of
Israel in 1948 the theological error known as Replacement Theology has begun to
decline and increasing is a theology of Christian Zionism that understands the
importance of God’s everlasting covenant with Abraham and the nation he would
birth.

However, just as the term “Zionism”
has been turned into a negative word by Israel’s enemies, so “Christian
Zionism” is under attack and often misrepresented in the media and in some
public discourse. For this reason, the ICEJ’s articles and monographs defining
and clarifying the beliefs of Christian supporters of Israel and placing their
“love for Israel” within its proper biblical context are proving invaluable.

Christian Zionists

"Zionism, [is] the national movement for the return of the Jewish people
to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of
Israel, advocated, from its inception, tangible as well as spiritual aims. Jews
of all persuasions, left and right, religious and secular, joined to form the
Zionist movement and worked together toward these goals. Disagreements led to
rifts, but ultimately, the common goal of a Jewish state in its ancient
homeland was attained. The term "Zionism" was coined in 1890 by
Nathan Birnbaum." (Jewish Virtual Library).

If Zionism is the belief in the
Jewish peoples right to return to their homeland, then a Christian Zionist
should simply be defined as a Christian who supports the Jewish peoples right
to return to their homeland. Under this broad and simple definition, many
Christians would qualify no matter what their reasons are for this support.
Just as Jews of all persuasions formed the Zionist movement then Christians of
all persuasion can also fall within this broad definition of a Christian
Zionist.

For this very reason, a myriad of
answers may be given by a Christian when questioned about their support of
Israel. Answers can include political, historical, and/or religious reasons.
For example, see our article Why We Support Israel.

Theology of Christian Zionism

The actual theology of Christian
Zionism, also known as Biblical Zionism, supports the right of the Jewish
people to return to their homeland on scriptural grounds. The biblical
foundation for Christian Zionism is found in Gods Covenant with Abraham. It was
in this covenant that God chose Abraham to birth a nation through which He
could redeem the world, and to do this He bequeathed them a land on which to
exist as this chosen nation.

Christian Zionism is confirmed
throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The major and minor prophets consistently
confirmed this national calling on Israel, promised her future restoration to
the land after a period of exile, and spoke of her spiritual renewal and
redemption bringing light to the world.

Christian Zionism differs with
Replacement Theology which teaches that the special relationship that Israel
had with her God in terms of her national destiny and her national homeland has
been lost because of her rejection of Jesus as Messiah, and therefore the
Church has become the new Israel. The Church has then inherited all the
blessings promised to Israel but the judgments and curses still conveniently
remain over the Jewish people.

Instead, Christian Zionism teaches
from the scriptures that Gods covenant with Abraham is still valid today. There
remains a national destiny over the Jewish people and her national homeland is
her everlasting possession in fulfillment of Gods plans and purposes for her.
The New Testament scriptures not only affirm the Abrahamic covenant, but they
confirm the historical mission of Israel and that Israels gifts and calling are
irrevocable.

Most Christian Zionists would agree
that Israels reemergence on the worlds scene, in fulfillment of Gods promises
to her, indicate that other biblically-predicted events will follow. However,
Christian Zionism is not based on prophecy or end-time events. It is based on
Gods promises and calling - which are irrevocable. (The end
of the article has several links to information on Christian Zionism)

Now here is my thing on being a Christian Zionist. If a
Jewish person desires to know about Jesus I am more than willing to share the
Gospel so that a Jewish person can KNOW Jesus – personally; however I believe
evangelizing Jews is not a profitable action. The Jews – who are God’s Chosen
People – will know Jesus by the Lord’s own Divine action. How that plays out, I
do not have a clue.

Perhaps in the Last Days when Israel is in trouble of
destruction without some kind supernatural help, the Lord Jesus Christ will
reveal Himself as the King of the Jews of the line of David and as the Son of
God.Or perhaps at Christ’s return with
his angels and Saints at the end of the Tribulation period when the Thousand
Year Reign of King Jesus is established in which the remnant of living Gentiles
and Jews who have not Believed will now know Jesus is King, the head of
government of the true New World Order. Undoubtedly the power of the Lord’s
return will create instant respect for the authority of Jesus to rule as the
head of One World Government; however it will take a training period of One
Thousand Years to allow a heart belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

It is after the 1000 year training period that Satan will
be released from chains. Satan will work his temptation on the humans of planet
earth and some will join Satan’s army. The end of the Book tells us Satan loses
in that final battle and he is cast into the lake of fire with the anti-Christ
and the False Prophet to exist in eternal burning with bodily consumption.
Those humans committed to reject life in Christ before the Parousia
and after will join Satan in the lake of fire.

By the time of the creation of the New Heavens and the
New Earth with the New Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God’s presence all
things will be new and there will be division of Jew and Gentile. The point
being, from a Christian perspective, the Jews will discover their Messiah
supernaturally and accept His Presence.

Now here is a little personal rumor history. When I was a
teenager my Grandmother told me a Jewish ancestry existed in my heritage to go
along with my German and English strains. Now she told me this in hush-hush
terms as if she was embarrassed to share this with me. I thought it odd at the
time that she spoke of my ancestors in such a hushed tone. At the time I could
care less because my prime directive was to have fun and party in the small
college town – Washington State - I grew up in.

As I grew older and became a Christian I thought on that
day of my Grandmother’s hushed information Jewish blood in my veins. If it is
true, I had a sense of pride rather than embarrassment. I understand my
Grandmother’s close-to-the-vest attitude because she was a kid in the days in
which a Jew was frowned upon even in America.

Whether my Jewish lineage is true or not, I could not
say. I never pursued an ancestry chart, mostly because it has never been in my
budget. I might try to get someone to work on that for me some day, but I don’t
have time currently. At any rate the potential of a Jewish ancestry increases
my position as a Christian Zionist.